From Boston-United Methodist Church officials defrocked Thursday the pastor who was convicted in a church trial last month for performing the marriage ceremony of his gay son in Hull six years ago.
The Rev. Frank Schaefer, pastor of a church in Lebanon, Pa., was stripped of his credentials after meeting with the Board of Ordained Ministry for the church’s Eastern Pennsylvania Conference.
In its decision last month, the jury convicted Schaefer of violating church rules prohibiting gay marriage and suspended him for 30 days, saying he should take that time to decide whether, in the future, he could uphold the church’s rules in their entirety.
Schaefer decided he could not, because he feels church laws are contradictory — on the one hand promising inclusivity and equal ministry to all and on the other discriminating against gay people — and because he felt called by God to advocate for gay people.
More here-
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/12/20/methodist-defrock-minister-who-officiated-gay-wedding-hull/7kMpfkGGpU3puHLxU6U0PP/story.html
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